Why I Am Not Against Ticket Scalping

Ticket scalping is illegal in several U.S. states. Oftentimes, when I hear about controversy surrounding scalpers selling tickets at inflated prices, I always hear all sorts of arguments against it. As you may know, ticket scalping is the practice of buying up a bunch of tickets, and then selling them at inflated prices once demand exceeds supply. This seems to be simple capitalism to me. People buy things and sell it for more (and oftentimes much more than their cost). No matter what anyone will tell you, the reason why most people are against scalping is because the big monopolized companies like Ticketmaster don't get their share of profits (and governments can't get their nose in people's private enterprise - by the way, I will be writing about this shortly - it is sickening how much of our money is siphoned from us in all forms of taxes). Besides, the people who bought the original tickets bought them at face value, paying all the appropriate taxes and so forth. Unless the tickets were stolen, I would say that the scalpers purchased the tickets legally and it was a legitimate transaction. Now, the oppponents of ticket scalping will tell you that it may not be safe, and that there are no refunds and it's better to go to a bonded broker. Very true - it's probably safer that way - but people take risks all the time buying online from people they don't know (look at the mass success of craigstlist - there is a huge market for stuff).

The other argument goes like this: well, only certain retailers and distributors are allowed to sell their tickets. This is purely perpetuating a monopoly. I remember years ago, a friend of mine went to a Novell trade show in Toronto - he won some high-end Network server software. Of course, he wasn't planning to use it, since he had no Novell servers at home, so he decided to try to sell it on eBay. Despite the fact that it was sealed, retail version (and he had proof he got it from a Novell trade show), he wasn't allowed to sell it online (Novell blocked him and gave him a cease and desist order). Novell said that they were the only ones allowed to sell it. I'm glad to hear Novell is in the toilet right now in terms of sales and industry-wide usage. If you have legal Microsoft software, you are allowed to sell it under certain conditions (ie. as long as it is not academic or not-for-resale product that came at a discount primarily for a certain purpose). If you get something as a gift or buy something at face value, as long as you are not infringing on any intellectual property laws (such as claiming ownership of the product itself), I really find no common-sense reason why you can't resell it if you wish.

I would maintain that people have a choice. If you want to pay that much, go ahead. If demand wasn't there, the price would be lower - otherwise, you can make the same argument for Christie's auctionhouse or anywhere else, where people bid on stuff, therefore inflating the price. If you don't have the money, or can't afford it, then there ya go - I can't afford a Porsche 911 (yet), so I don't complain that the price is set too high. I just choose to drive another car.

Also, bear in mind that scalpers are also taking a huge risk - if they don't sell the tickets in time, they are stuck with them. So it's in their best interest to get people to buy the tickets and make some money.

I don't think anyone is holding people at gun point. And tickets to entertainment venues are not a necessary service. I'd be more concerned that the big gas and oil companies are buying up their supply, and then jacking the price up (oftentimes several times in a week), even though it's the same big tank of gas they bought at a set price! Why isn't that illegal?

Tickets are sold on eBay all the time. Concerts, sporting events, etc. Look at when SuperBowl comes - eBay always has a massive supply of tickets, always at higher than face value. How come this isn't illegal?

Seems like a definite double standard, doesn't it?

Ultimately, I see no moral dilemma here with the premise of ticket scalping. This is the law of supply and demand working at its finest.